Bond Family Reunion '07

This weekend I attended a family reunion in Henley-on-Thames, at my Grandmother and Uncle's houses! Cousins, aunts, uncles, boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives, sisters, and brothers all flooded into Nigel's house and ate Joyce's amazing food.

Here are a few photos of the Bond Reunion Event '07:

John, Granny, and Angie

Lara running from the coming rain storm!

Nigel's Girls: Lara, Angie, and a pregnant Nicky!

Yasmeen, Tim, and Dad

Meena, Angie, Rocheen, and Lara

Joyce, James, Meena, Lara, Rocheen, and John

The Bond Brothers: Dad, Nigel, and Tim

The Bond Cousins: Yasmeen, Nicky, Angie, Me, Rocheen, Lara
(missing are Lisa and Escandar)

The New Parents: Nicky, Rav, and Baby!

Funniest Picture Award: James through binoculars!

O2 Wireless Festival - London

This weekend I partook in another of the traditional English events - the Outdoor Summer Festival. Specifically, the O2 Wireless Festival in Hyde Park, London. In it's second year running, the festival has lined-up quite the musical line-up!


Bands playing over the four days include the Kaiser Chiefs, The White Stripes, the Gotan Project, and Queens of the Stone Age. But I only attended the Saturday, meaning I missed all of the above... but that's alright because Daft Punk headlined Saturday! Daft Punk, LCD Soundsystem, CCS, the Klaxons, Calvin Harris, and Mutemath rocked it out!


And ROCK they did! Daft Punk was amazing - two guys with robot heads began their set with the notes from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and the thumping electro music didn't let up until Around the World finished!

Summer Festivals are curious things. Lazing about with thousands of people, some costumed (saw some amazing cross dressing and stilted Batman and Superman!) Cheepish beer and food kiosks, four stages, carnival rides, and an amazing vibe rule the day. Even the weather cooperated - short stints of rain amongst beautiful sunshine!


I went down to London with Roger, Lewis, Emily, and Zoe and had a great time. I stayed with cousin Dave and saw cousin Naomi this morning. They were getting themselves ready for the King of Festivals: Glastonbury. 10 times bigger than O2 makes it the largest festival in the UK! Someday, I'll hit that one. Someday...

Happy Father's Day to all those fathers out there! (Dad!)

New Film is Finished!

"Hilarious!"
"Better than Good!"
"Not that bad!"
"Well, I've seen better!"
"Well done, son!"
"Best film I've ever seen ..... in the last 20 minutes!"
"Exciting in parts!"
"I liked the good bits!"

These and many others are actual comments made by actual people who have seen this actual film!


Tony's Empire: Harborne Hitmen is a 23 minute shortish action/comedy/gangster no-budget film, staring my roommates and myself "acting" as mafioso gangsters and hitmen. Shot entirely on location in Birmingham, England, the movie tells the dark tale of a group of mob friends that suspect one of them is an undercover cop. But which one? I play the gang's boss - Tony - who deals with the dirty rat.

WARNING: The film is rated R due to constant strong language (swearing) and scenes of violence and torture (with a knife!) Viewer discretion is advised...

Watch it now on YouTube below. It is in three parts, so make sure you watch them all!
Tony's Empire - Part 1
Tony's Empire - Part 2
Tony's Empire - Part 3

This is the first official film I have ever solely directed and edited and I am quite proud of it! Please let me know what you think! Tell me your favorite part and which part could be better!
All this will help me the next time... (can anyone smell a sequel?!...)

So, sit back, relax, and enjoy Tony's Empire: Harborne Hitmen!

Two Weeks in Vancouver - Part 2

I am certainly not the first person in my family to get a tattoo. That honor goes to my sister Lisa, who has three at the moment and goes in to get her fourth today! (Good luck, Lis! Say "Hi" to Paul!)

1. Stylized dragon at the base of her neck... 2. Capricorn symbol at the base of her spine... 3. Celtic-ish armband on her left arm... And now today's 4. A silver dagger on her right calf (so that when she wears her high leather boots, the handle sticks out above!)


She designs her tattoos herself because she is a fantastic and capable artist! For those who don't know, she's been delving into that art by taking a digital graphic design course, which she has just completed. Her graduation show just happened to fall within the weeks I was in town, so I was able to be the uber-proud older brother and see all her hard work!

It was a real fancy event at the Vancouver Community College downtown, with catered food and a bar. Each student had a section of wall space to display their work. The varied art and design styles of each student made for interesting comparisons. I was impressed with the professionalism of the work - especially that of my sister's!

Zoom in by clicking the picture!

Her portfolio includes posters, CD covers, tattoos, websites, web magazines, business cards, and logos. I really love her self-portrait! It looks exactly like her...

Lisa's been drawing since she could hold a pencil. Mom and Dad are both artistic, so it is no surprise where she gets her talent from. Not only is she now a talented Graphic Designer, she is the Lead Singer in the band One Year Later. They've been playing together for a few years now and have begun playing at venues around Vancouver - most recently a string of gigs at the Buffalo Club! The band rocks and Lisa sounds great - check out two videos on their websites!

Click on Lisa and One Year Later myspace pages for info and videos!
Join their Official One Year Later Fan Group on Facebook!

Tattoo Pics

Amazingly, 100% of the people who voted in where my tattoo is, voted for "right shoulder." And all 7 people were correct!

Hurrah, you've all just won pictures of me getting my tat:

The look on my face when the first needle hits...

Step 1: the drawing outline is transfered onto the skin...

Step2: Outline is tattooed, then basic shading...

Step 3: Final shading and details are done.

Soon, the pain becomes a vibrating tickle... Mmmm...

Done! Finished work of Art!

The tattoo is still scabbing up and flaking off, but it is looking good.
I'll post some pics once it's all healed!

More from Vancouver soon...

Tattoo Quiz

Many people have been asking where on my body my tattoo is. I have left out that info on purpose because I thought it would be fun to see if you could guess where my tat is! So go on, vote!

Where is my tattoo?
	Back of hand
	Right forearm
	Scalp
	Left hip
	Right shoulder
	Base of spine
	Right calf
	Base of neck
	Massive bicep
	Um.. groinal area
pollcode.com free polls

Two Weeks in Vancouver - Part 1

Well, I am suffering from Jet Lag.

Yup, it is 5:30am Monday morning and I've been awake since 3am. My internal clock is so backwards right now, I'll be snoozing by lunchtime. And since I go back to work today, I'll be slugging back the tea - milk and 3 sugars!

North Vancouver

What a trip it was...! While I wasn't able to catch-up with everyone I wanted to, I did manage to see most of my friends and family, along with some old friends from high school and university! The main reason I returned back to my hometown of Vancouver is that my cousin was getting married. Other events such as my sister's digital graphic design grad show and meeting my friends new baby punctuated the trip.

Downtown Vancouver

I also got into a car accident, stood on top of the Province/Vancouver Sun building, and got a tattoo.

Yup, I'm a rebel.

Tattoo:
I've wanted a tattoo for ages and now seemed like the right time. But what should I get? I needed something that symbolized me. Something that I could and wanted to live with for the rest of my life. Something that spoke of my love of art. Something that spoke of my love science and palaeontology. Something strong and exciting. Something Canadian. Something I drew myself.



Last Friday, my sister and our two cousins from the UK accompanied me to the Sacred Heart Tattoo Studio on Davies Street, where I met Paul. My sister joined me in the tattooing room as Paul began the process. After photocopying my drawing onto a transfer sheet, he applied the transfer and began the tattoo. How did it feel? Constant, slight, prickly pain. A bit like scraping the point of a knife over your skin. After the first few minutes, you become used to it. In fact, I could totally get another one... but not yet! My tattoo took one hour to do. And it looks great. Better than great - awesome! I love the amount of detail Paul was able to include!

My tattoo has begun to scab and flake off (it's supposed to!) and I'm putting on some skin lotion to keep it moist. Soon, it will be completely healed and I'll post some pics!

Wedding:
The main reason I returned was my cousin's wedding, which was held at Burnaby Lake. My two cousins on Mom's side (Dave and Naomi) living in the UK along with my Mom's sister stayed with us for the wedding. It was great to catch up with them (I will be seeing them in a few weeks in London for the Daft Punk concert at Hyde Park!)

Dave and I had to become the MCs for the wedding at the last minute because the original MC became unavailable. We were able to do a decent job, doing toasts, calling which table goes next for food, and announcing the dances... It was my second MC gig. The first was MCing the wedding of this bride's sister - my other cousin!

More stories to follow, but safe to say I had a great time back home! Thanks to Mom, Dad, Sis, and all my friends! Stay tuned for more...

The New Look

I'm back!

Back from Vancouver and back to blogging! I though it appropriate that I update the layout (I was getting bored with my old one and Facebook has been taking more and more of my internet time). And I like it!

The Vancouver stories (and I have a lot!) will start to flow soon, so stay tuned!

What I am looking forward to

So much has been happening recently, I haven't had time to post! The job is going well, my roommates are fine, and I feel good. I've been filming a crime/mob film and it is going well - filming is completed and editing has begun! The weather has turned rainy and the kids are in exam week - SATs for the year 6's - so everyone is on edge. But that's not all...

Tomorrow I am flying back to Vancouver for two weeks! One week off school plus our midterm break means I can come home for a visit and for my cousin's wedding. Besides seeing my family and friends again, I am most looking forward to spending time by the seaside and in the forests. Boy, do I miss them!

I'll be there to see my sister graduate from her graphic design course, meet Warren's new baby (see his blog here), plan my summer Spain travels with Greg, contemplate my future work plans with everyone (especially Steve), and pick-up some essential Canadian products you cannot buy here (such as A&W rootbeer, sushi, KD, 7-11 slurpees!...)

Please let me know if you want to catch up in Vancouver! I can't wait to see you, and I'll update the old blog later with all my home stories. Oh Canada!

Can you help me with my future plans?

Good morning everyone,

The sun is shining and I have a day off from work today. My school is closed as it is being used as a voting station. Certainly no complaints by me; I'm going to use the day to research my future plans, ie. "What I am going to do next September..."

On May 18th, I'll be coming back home to visit Vancouver for two weeks, and then returning to work the summer term back here in Birmingham. Once that is done in late July, I'm going backpacking in Spain and Portugal (and perhaps Poland and Czech Republic) and meeting up with my good friend Greg for some Spanish travel and surfing in August.

Here is where it gets a bit fuzzy, though...

Once September hits, I think I'm going to fly home (via New York City for a bit), and stay and work in Vancouver until January. One option for my next step is to go to Korea and teach there for a bit. If not Korea, then perhaps Brazil or Argentina, working in International Schools.

My traveling bug has not died and the world is such a large, wonderful place. There is still so much to see out there and now is the time in my life to do it!

My question to you then is:
Have you had any experience in these countries? Teaching or otherwise? Any information would greatly help my decision making. Thanks you so much!

~ - ~

On a side note, here is another photo I've messed about with on Photoshop:



And this is one I found online (I didn't make it!) of a Velocirapper holding the mic and laying down some kick-ass vocals.
Get it? Velocirapper? Veloci"rapper"? Hehehehe, velociRAPTOR! Oh boy, jokes only paleontologist get!

4.3 and Game 3

Here is a quick post to show that England is not so different from Western Canada.

Saturday morning, the Kent area in Southern England was shaken by a 4.3 magnitude earthquake, rattling windows and collapsing some chimneys. The epicenter was located off the coast in the English Channel, near Folkestone. It was the largest tremor since 2002. Back home, BC is long overdue for a major earthquake...

I did not feel yesterday's earthquake at all for two reasons:

1. Birmingham is very far from Kent.
2. I was sleeping, having gone to bed at 5am. No, I was not partying, but listening through the internet 1040AM radio to the Canucks playing Game 2 against the Ducks! And we won!!! Go Canucks Go! (I then slept until 11am, and then finished season 1 of 24).

Tonight is Game 3 in Vancouver, and I am debating staying up and listening to it. The puck drops at 5pm Van time, which is 11pm UK time - not too bad! So here's to our Canucks! Go get 'em!!!


I have begun to play around with Photoshop and this is my first result.

Greece - Part 3: Santorini

*Imagine an circular island in a turquoise sea. The salt air lick the volcanic outcrops, sending wisps of ash into the clear deep-blue sky. A civilization of early Greek people thrive on the fertile soil, growing wine and catching squid in the bountiful ocean. Life is simple, easy.*

*Until one day, three-thousand five-hundred years ago, the earth began to shake. With an apocalyptic explosion, the island exploded with a force not felt before, sending towering ash clouds into the sky and devastating tsunamis throughout the Mediterranean. The blast from the volcano left the island broken, a partial ring of rock surrounding a submerged caldera. The Minoan culture vanished in the super-heated wind, leaving Pompeii-like preserved villages.*

*And then the tourism vultures swooped in to exploit the island's intense and stunning natural beauty. Some centuries later, Peter Bond steps off the slow ferry and stares in awe at the shear laminated volcanic rock wall above....*

Santorini Island differs greatly from Naxos, as it is one of the "must-see" locations in all of Mediterranean Europe. Unfortunately, this makes it much too tourist-y for my taste, lacking in local culture and pandering to the (usually) English-speaking tourist with money.

Highlights of Santorini include hiking the island in search of the perfect shot of the volcanic ash cliffs, watching the sunsets from Oia, and eating at Mama's Breakfast House (where Mama herself yells greetings across the room, hugs and calls everyone "sex bombs," and offers delicious complimentary pancakes. And the food is good too!

Enjoy the photographs (click on them to enlarge your favorites!)

The ash cliffs from the ferry.
Notice the orange life-boat. This is the location of the sinking of the Cruise Ship three days before I arrived at Sanorini!

Fira - the main town on the island.

Houses of Fira - definitive Greek white-washed buildings.

Open the door and step off the end of the world...

The volcanic island in the center of the caldera.

Precarious balance of Fira on the Santorini cliffs.

Dinner with the sunset. Famous Santorini wine.
A map of Santorini on the tablecloth.

The famous Red Sand Beach.

Iron in the volcanic rock make it red.

One needs to hike a bit through the red rocks to get to the beach.
Two Canadians, two Americans, an Australian, and Me.

Spectacular Red Cliffs overlook the beach.

Clear turquoise Mediterranean Sea...

Panoramic photograph of Santorini.

Windmill in Oia, as the sun sets beyond.

The lanes of Oia, Santorini's second city.

Watching the world-famous sunset from Oia.

The intense orange of a Santorini sunset.

Pastel colours fill the sky as the sun sinks into the sea.

The cliffs of Santorini, layers and layers of ash and lava.

Island of lava steams with heat from this active (or sleeping) volcano.

My last sunset in Greece.

Artistic photograph at sunset.

Artistic photograph at sunset.

Elements of Greece.

Amazing view.
(Notice the dog balancing on the railing.)

Goodbye, Greece.

But it wasn't quite the end...

My ferry leaves at 11pm to take me back to Athens, so I can catch my flight back to the UK, and I wait at the Santorini dock. And I wait. And I wait. 10pm. 11pm. 12pm.... ugh.
Finally at 1am, a ferry arrives. I follow everyone onto the boat, tired and cold. With one look at my ticket, the attendant tells me this is the wrong boat.

Wrong boat?

This boat does not go to Athens.

No? Where does it go then?

Crete.

What?! Crete? That is in the exact opposite direction of which I want to go!!! Let me off!!!

You can't get off the boat as it has just left. You are now going to Crete.

...

So I went to Crete. The southernmost point in Europe. After arriving, tired, cold and now lost at 6am, I begin to stumble around, trying to figure out how to get back to Athens in time for my flight. I bite the bullet and head to the airport and pay the cash for a flight to the capital. I arrive in plenty of time to waste 6 hours in the airport, but I make the flight and get home safe and sound.

I didn't see much of Crete, besides the dock, the airport and some countryside when my connecting bus detoured around some construction. But it counts, doesn't it?

Greece was an amazing country and I am glad I got to experience it.
If you love your senses, go to Greece!